Le Kilt reinvents Fred Perry icons with a punk DIY attitude

If you thought a kilt was only worn at Scottish weddings, by punks or by preppy Upper East Siders, you're wrong. Two distinctively different British brands have collaborated to create the Fred Perry x Le Kilt collection for fall/winter 2018, making this clothing staple wearable for everyone. Iconic Fred Perry preppy styles like the pique shirt, V-neck jumper and A-line skirt have been reinvented with a punk DIY spirit. Think punk landmark, the Vivienne Westwood and Malcom McLaren iconic Sex boutique in King's Road, London. Each piece features Le Kilt’s signature kilt pin under the embroidered Laurel Wreath.

Fred Perry’s first collaboration with Le Kilt — a London-based brand founded by Samantha McCoach, a BFC / Vogue Designer Fashion Fund 2018 finalist who wants to celebrate her Scottish heritage — which is stocked at notable stockists globally including Selfridges, Dover Street Market and Beams. “It’s so easy to say that Punk is about anarchy and rebellion, and I don’t necessarily agree with that,” she told British Vogue. “Punk is about individuality and identity – making something your own by changing it,” she added. One of the brand’s manifestos is to deconstruct elements of our modern uniform to allow the item to take on a completely new identity.

This is seen in this capsule collection with the cut-up pique shirt with contrast stitching and bright rose tartan print — just what a creative (and rebellious) student might wear. The black tonal kilt with a flat fronted apron and three pearl buttons on the side? That is a chic piece that Marissa Cooper or Blair Waldorf would definitely wear to school. “That’s what I like about the kilt as a piece of clothing; it’s hard and girly at the same time — which is everything the post-punk movement was about,” said McCoach.